In industrial plant, in particular in chemistry, but also in many other industries, there is a need to keep the equipment or equipment parts operable for as long as humanly possible in the event of fire, since equipments of this type often cannot be suddenly switched off, but must be slowly shut down. There is also a need for fire protection for much equipment in buildings, motor vehicles, aircraft and on ships. Examples of equipment worthy of protection are often measuring, control and regulation units and equipment, electricity supply stations, in particular emergency generators, tachographs, flight recorders and the like.
If any second housing was hitherto provided or prescribed as a protective housing, it did not offer a sufficient guarantee of fulfilling the abovementioned requirement. Commercially available housings and also protective housings are produced from thermoplastics or thermosets and are tested for flame resistance in accordance with DIN 4102, or they comprise metal. With rising temperature, thermoplastic materials are converted from the elastic to the plastic, pulpy or even liquid state. Thermosets remain hard on repeated warming and their heat resistance is generally from -40.degree. to +130.degree. C. higher than that of thermoplastics. Although metallic housings are fire-resistant, the outside temperature acting on them is very rapidly transferred into the interior, so that plastic parts, in particular line cladding and insulation, arranged in the housing carbonise and render the installation inoperable.
The object is to improve the housing arrangement of the type mentioned in the introduction with respect to the duration of operation when exposed to fire.
This object is achieved by a protective housing comprising a fire-protection composition which foams up when exposed to fire.